Although you can buy pumpkin for a fair chunk of the year here in Australia. Now is when you will be seeing rather a lot of it. Autumn and early winter is a great time for the humble pumpkin. It’s a cheap and easy basic, that really does pay to know a few different ways in which to cook it. Team it up with the forever versatile fetta and you are away. Meal times never looked so simple.
Now if you are lucky enough to grow your own pumpkins, they can be stored for several months in a cool dark airy spot, especially so if they have been cured beforehand. This can be done by leaving them out in the sun for a while first, for the skin to harden and the stalk to dry out.
Then there is the eating. I really like using pumpkin as it’s cheap, and can be turned into a whole list of easy dinner time meals… Or snacks… Or desserts. Actually the humble pumpkin is rather impressive with its array of pumpkiny meal options.
KNOW YOUR BASICS: Find a couple of basic ingredients and really get to know them, what they can do, what they taste well with and most importantly, how on earth to cook them.
First up, roasted. This can be done either with skins on or off depending on your time, strength and taste buds. I normally peel them, as they are generally going into a soup, dhal or bread kind of dish.
Now once you’ve peeled, chopped and roasted you are left with the scooped out, fleshy, stringy and seedy bits. Separate all the seeds and leave them in a bowl to soak over night. The next morning dry them off and spread them out in a frying pan gently roast- watch them, they POP!
Whether you are roasting, steaming, eating cold, eating hot, the pumpkin is a great one to be bought locally, seasonally, frugally, and importantly tastely, (surely that can be a word?)
What’s your favourite way to serve pumpkin?
A few more ideas on what to do with your wonderful pumpkin
Make a Pumpkin and Fetta Tart
Pumpkin and Fetta salad with chickpeas was delicious
Pumpkin and Fetta sausage rolls always a winner
Pumpkin and Fetta foccacia
Pumpkin Spiced Cake– everyone loves cake, especially pudding kinda cake
Pumpkin and Jerusalem Artichoke Soup, cool nights, hot dinners
Roasted pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
Indian Spiced Pumpkin Scones– easy for lunch or afternoon tea
Pumpkin pie
Pumpkin Dhal- frugal and seasonal cooking
and my go to Thai Style Pumpkin Soup
cityhippyfarmgirl 
Perfect timing – I just used a quarter of a jap pumpkin in a roasted veg soup and was wondering how to use the rest of it 🙂
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Excellent Sara 🙂 Happy Pumpkin..ing
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that tart looks amazing. thanks for motivating me to buy more pumpkin. I get a bit lazy with chopping it up sometimes and find the best way to deal with this is to chop it up and roast it in small pieces that can wait in the fridge until I have soups, salads, stews, tarts etc to put them into. also great in scones, risotto and cheese sauce.
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This pumpkin in particular was a beast to cut through. I thought I was either going to snap my knife or cut a finger off, either option not great! Enjoy your pumpkin cooking and baking Johanna.
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Oh man that pizza looks SO good. In fact your whole list sounds great. Loving the sound of pumpkin fetta sausage rolls. I’m ashamed to say I have never reserved the seeds, but you’ve convinced me to give it a try (eyeing off two butternuts on the bench as we speak)! I like sneaking pureed pumpkin into chocolate muffins for the kids 😉
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Sneaking vegetables in where ever possible is always a good thing. I think I need to do this more often especially for recess things for school.
(And good to see your name pop up again Saskia 🙂
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Pumpkin is so basic yet so good isn’t it? I love the look of that pizza/bread! I think pumpkin and chickpeas are a perfect match. This post took me back to some of your older posts, how good are those sausage rolls? So popular with your lovely readers too. I haven’t heard from Jane at Tea with Hazel is ages. Random thought x
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I haven’t heard from her for ages either Jane, I wonder what she’s been up to…she’s certainly been missed!
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So good! I don’t think I have quite mastered the art of growing or storing pumpkins. I seem to leave them too long on the vine and the slaters get to them before I do, then the ones I think will keep end up rotting on me. Will be swotting up on curing them before our next harvest! Made an enormous pot of roasted pumpkin and apple soup this week. A tad on the sweet side, but the kids wolfed it down. Your bread looks fabulous. I have rolled roasted pumpkin and feta into a loaf of sourdough sprinkled with pine nuts. A perfect combination I think. x
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That is the perfect combination isn’t it. Soft pumpkin bits, salty fetta and a crunch of the nuts. I’d eat that right now, yes please.
I wonder if it depends on the type of pumpkin on how easily it is to cure and store them?
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I love pumpkin too and you’re so right, it’s a very versatile vegetable. I would love to grow my own! I love roasted pumpkin and feta salad xx
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You should do that Charlie Louie, grow some that is 🙂
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Try roasting the whole pumpkin and then use for soups etc it’s amazing
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Pumpkin is one of my staple foods. I also use it to make breakfast (Korean juk a sort of congee) and I experimented with pureeing cooked pumpkin with date puree to make a sweetener. It worked really well when I was making my vegan kefir. I eat pumpkin almost every day. It’s incredibly good, cheap and easy to grow (when the rats don’t eat them 😦 ) and incredibly nutritious. We Aussies certainly know how to make the most out of the humble gourd 🙂
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I remember when you were eating it with the dates Ms Narf, I’m still yet to try it sweeter like that. (Tell me is Steve vegan too?)
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Nope, he isn’t Ms Cityhippyfarmgirl and I am fine with that. It’s my choice to be vegan. I won’t force that on anyone else, just like it’s my life journey and no-one else has to walk it 🙂
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❤ pumpkins. But struggle to get the to grow in my garden. They never seem to have time to ripen before the frosts start. Just as well I can buy it. Love Pumpkin and Feta ANYTHING.
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I was intrigued to read what you do with the seeds, I’ve been growing pumpkins on my allotment in England for years, but have never managed to figure out how to use the seeds. Tell me, when they pop, is that the shell coming off? What next? Can you store the seeds to use later? I use quite a lot of pumpkin seeds, as I love them toasted on salads, but I buy them. It seems nuts to grow them and feed them to the hens, and buy them to eat ourselves!
Thanks as ever for your lovely blog, I don’t ‘follow’ as I get overwhelmed with emails, but I always read your posts and enjoy.
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You’re right about it being the perfect weather for pumpkins at the moment, I think I’ve used about 5 in the last couple of weeks 🙂
I love the look of your pumpkin and feta tart – is that standard bread dough?
Three of my favourites are pumpkin and prune cake, pizza with roasted pumpkin, feta and sage, and Jamie’s pumpkin, barley, ham and sage soup…
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Delicious!! Our neighbour grew so many this year he couldn’t give them away! Big Quuensland Blues – I’ll have to pass him your tips! Thanks Brydie! x
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